On a sharp bend descending in Kerry cyclist Janet Price found a slow moving 4X4 towing a trailer with livestock ahead of her. She crashed and died. And now her family has said signs are needed to warn cyclists of the dangerous road.
The family of a woman from the US who died while cycling in Kerry last year said she should have been warned about the route.
Janet Price (69) was killed while cycling on the Gap of Dunloe on May 30th, 2017, while with her husband.
She was crashed on a 140 degree bend as she approached a slow moving 4X4 vehicle pulling a trailer with livestock.
She and her husband Don Theiler were cycling on a narrow stretch of road after renting bikes in Killarney.
Mr Theiler has previously called for the Department of Transport to carry out safety works on the road.
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He also sent a letter to the Department of Transport listing concerns over road safety at the Gap of Dunloe and calling for action to be taken
"It is a very narrow road. There is a tremendous amount of people on that road. There is a limited amount of signage that I think is not adequate," he said.
"I was promised things would happen and there is no reason why this could have happened soon after Janet's death. I keep being told something will be done after the inquest is held."
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And now the dead woman’s daughters said had warning signs been erected on the route their mother wouldn’t have ridden it.
Ms Price came off her bike at a well known bad bend close to Kate Kearney’s Cottage.
At the conclusion of her inquest in Kerry, Coroner Aisling Quilter called for signs to be erected warning of the steep descent and sharp turns.
One of Ms Price’s daughters, Erika, attended the inquest in Killarney with her sister Jennifer.
She said her mother was not an experienced cyclist. And she would not have risked trying the route had she been fully aware what it involved.
“I think if they had been warned that it was not for beginner cyclists they might not have gone," she told journalist Ralph Riegel in the Irish Independent.
"People should know what they are getting into. But ultimately we are all individuals and we are all responsible for what we put ourselves into."
She added it was clear warning signs were needed. A Garda witness at the inquest said he had seen an experienced cyclist having difficulties in the area.
“It sounds like (warning signs) should have happened a long time ago," she said.
"One of those (Gardaí) testified that while he was on the road he saw somebody, an experienced cyclist, having trouble negotiating that bend with that quantity of traffic.
"There should be more information out there about the kind of cycling you do there.”
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